


Who's Santa Claus?

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:08:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22083907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Blair asks Naomi who Santa Claus is.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Who's Santa Claus?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt 'Christmas'

Who's Santa Claus?

by Bluewolf

"Mom - who's Santa Claus?"

Naomi stared at her young son for a moment, the question leaving her totally at a loss. "Where... where did you hear that name?"

"At school. Some of the other kids were wondering what Santa Claus was going to bring for them, and one or two said they knew because they were sure they'd be getting what they'd asked him for when they saw him in the mall on Saturday. But they were all speaking about him as someone who gave them things. Is he someone who lives here?"

Naomi didn't know what to say.

This was the first time since Blair was born that she'd spent the two months leading up to Christmas in a Christian country - to the point where, despite all the displays in the shop windows, she'd actually forgotten the almost manic present buying and giving that was so much a feature of the season.

In addition, Naomi had been proud of the fact that she had reared Blair with nothing but hard fact in his life. She'd never used the word 'wish' in his hearing. Even a chicken wishbone she'd always called 'breast bone', if she'd called it anything. Now, faced with this 'Santa' question, she was temporarily at a loss.

Finally she said, "He's not a real person, sweetie."

"Not? But... "

"They spoke as if he was?"

"Yes... "

Naomi drew a deep breath. "Children in a lot of countries don't know about him. But in a lot of other countries - Blair, the way I grew up... I knew all about Santa Claus. He was a miraculous being who lived at the North Pole, making toys, and travelled - well - flew around the world on the evening of December 24th, on a sledge pulled by eight reindeer, visiting all the children who'd been good, going down the chimneys in their houses and leaving toys for them."

"Nobody could do that!"

"I know, but that was what we were told. Anyway, I had an older cousin, and when he was twelve and I was eight, Tom told me Santa was just made up by the adults to blackmail their kids into being good. That the presents were provided by Mom and Dad...

"I stayed awake on December 24th, pretending to be asleep... and yes, it was Dad who came to my bedroom and put the presents there for me.

"It was... a disappointment.

"I didn't let my parents know I knew until a few months later when I told them what Tom had said, letting them think that he'd just told me; but I decided then that if I ever had any children, I wouldn't feed them that lie... or pick what is basically a random time of year to give them presents. And while some families don't bother, a lot of people get birthday presents as well - but all they did was be born, and what's special about that? So you get presents at odd times during the year - if you've done well at school, for example. But we don't celebrate any of the 'traditional' holidays. The only 'holiday' I observe is the winter solstice, when the days start getting longer. Yes, it's near Christmas, but... the solstice isn't a part of any religion, it's following nature. For the people who lived back in the Stone Age it signified the return of the sun, and the return of an easier way of life - warmer weather, plants sprouting, more food available, longer days to gather it... "

Blair nodded. "That makes sense," he said.

Naomi smiled to herself. Blair was so much wiser than his years!


End file.
